A Nigerian man who tried to blow up an international flight near Detroit on behalf of al-Qaida has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The mandatory punishment Thursday for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was never in doubt after he pleaded guilty in October. The 25-year-old says the bomb in his underwear was a "blessed weapon" to avenge poorly treated Muslims worldwide. The bomb didn't fully detonate aboard an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight on Christmas Day 2009, but it caused a brief fire that burned Abdulmutallab.

He admitted afterward that the attack was inspired by Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical American-born cleric and leading al-Qaida figure killed by a U.S. drone strike last fall. Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds announced the sentence in a crowded courtroom that included some passengers from Northwest Airlines Flight 253.

At least five passengers were expected to speak Thursday at Abdulmutallab's sentencing.

Abdulmutallab, the privileged son of a wealthy Nigerian banker, returned to federal court in Detroit to receive a mandatory life sentence for trying to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253, four months after pleading guilty and admitting it was a suicide mission for al-Qaida.

The hearing was an open platform for passengers and crew who wanted to speak, but only five of nearly 300 were expected to address the court.

Abdulmutallab, 25, tried to detonate explosive chemicals that were hidden in his underwear minutes before the plane landed at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The government says he first performed a ritual in the lavatory — brushing his teeth and perfuming himself — and returned to his seat. The device didn't work as planned, but still produced flame, smoke and panic in the cabin.Canadian to speak in court

The only Canadian on board, Shama Chopra of Montreal, is among the passengers planning to speak in court.

Chopra, 56, told CBC's Allison Johnson before the sentencing that she still has nightmares about her experience on Northwest Airlines Flight 253, but that she's prepared to face Abdulmutallab.

'I don't have to be scared of anything. God has given me a second chance to live'—Shama Chopra, Canadian aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253

"She has already forgiven. She's talked to this man's mother and says she knows sometimes, as a mother herself, kids do take the wrong direction," Johnson said.

"But she wants something in return. She wants people to speak out against jihad and educate people so this kind of thing does not happen again."

In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Chopra said she approaches life differently now than she did before that Christmas Day in 2009. She ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian Parliament in 2011, a race she couldn't have imagined joining years ago.

"I've become bolder. I've become stronger," she said.

"I don't have to feel weak. I don't have to be scared of anything. God has given me a second chance to live."Travels with heightened awareness

Alain Ghonda travels the globe with heightened awareness after Christmas 2009, when his flight could have been destroyed in midair by the attempted bombing.

"After having that experience, you do not know who's sitting next to you," said Ghonda, 40, a consultant from Silver Spring, Md., who was a passenger on the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight.

"They may look like passengers, but they might want to harm you."

On the second day of the trial in October, Abdulmutallab suddenly pleaded guilty to all charges.

"The Qur'an obliges every able Muslim to participate in jihad and fight in the way of Allah those who fight you, and kill them wherever you find them … an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," Abdulmutallab said.

Anthony Chambers, an attorney appointed to assist Abdulmutallab, believes the Nigerian will speak again Thursday but doesn't know what he'll say.Defence to fight mandatory life sentence

Chambers, meanwhile, urged U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to declare that a mandatory life sentence is unconstitutional, claiming it is a cruel punishment in a case where no one but Abdulmutallab was physically hurt. His groin was badly burned.

"Not one passenger lost his or her life. Not one passenger suffered life-threatening injuries," Chambers said.

The government said that is not the threshold.

"Unsuccessful terrorist attacks still engender fear in the broader public, which, after all, is one of their main objectives," prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday. "In addition, the enormous cost of the augmented security measures adopted as a direct result of defendant's unsuccessful terrorist attack are borne by the American public at large in both increased cost, inconvenience and wasted time at airports."

IT depressor me that the average Joe Cit is smoking this horse shit, it doesn't suprise me the judicial system is playing ball with the big dogs. They got the hard word from the NSA, CIA,DOD, and many more. This a classic set up, come on folks we have been around a while. Does any truly believe that a presidential nomination is dead in it tracks over phone calls from who the FK knows the source, despite they the fact the opposition has no limit to their BS.